Pile carpets



Jan. 10, 1961 5, MCKNIGHT 2,967,549

PILE CARPETS Filed May 28, 1958 NTOR.

'wire and the pick.

PILE CARPETS Stewart McKnight, Amsterdam, N.Y., assignor to MohascoIndustries, Inc., Amsterdam, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May28, 1958, Ser. No. 738,468 3 Claims. (Cl. 139-402) This inventionrelates to pile fabrics for floor covering purposes and resides moreparticularly in a pile carpeting of novel construction, which can beproduced rapidly and at low cost on a standard pile wire loom. The newcarpet has a pile made of elements of pile yarn bound beneath picks offilling, and, although the pile contains a relatively small amount ofyarn per unit area, the pile elements are so distributed that the pileprovides good coverage of the base of the fabric and has an attractiveappearance and good wearing qualities.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made tothe accompanying drawing, in Which Fig. l is a diagrammatic longitudinalsectional view through one form of the new carpet on the loom;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectional view of the carpetremoved from the loom; and

Figs. 3, 4, and are diagrammatic bottom plan views of different forms ofthe carpet.

The new carpet comprises a base formed of picks of filling 10 lying in asingle plane and interlaced with binder warp yarns in two sets undersubstantially equal tension and represented by the yarns 11 and 12. Thefabric contains no stutter warp yarns and the binder yarns aredistributed across the fabric in spaced pairs with each pair containinga yarn from each set. The two binder warp yarns of each pair pass onopposite sides of each pick and cross between adjacent picks.

The pile yarns are warp yarns in a plurality of sets and the pile yarnsare distributed across the fabric in groups, each of which contains apile yarn of each set. In all forms of the fabric there are at leastthree sets of pile yarns with yarns representing those in the setsdesignated 13, 14, and 15, respectively. Adjacent pile yarns of eachgroup may be separated by one or more pairs of binder yarns, as shown inFigs. 3 and 4, or adjacent groups of pile yarns may be separated by oneor more pairs of binder yarns, as shown in Fig. 5.

In the weaving of the fabric, the binder yarns of the two sets aremanipulated to lie in different levels in successive sheds for insertionof a pick of filling between them and a pile wire 16 is inserted inevery other shed and above both binder yarns. In each shed in which awire is inserted, the pile yarns of two sets are raised above the wire,while the yarns of the third set lie below both the wire and the pick offilling. In each shed in which no wire is inserted, the pile yarns oftwo sets pass above the pick of filling and the pile yarns of the thirdset pass below. Thus, as shown at the left in Fig. l, in the shed, inwhich the pick of filling 1t! and the wire 16 are inserted, the pileyarns 13 and are raised over the wire, while the pile yarns 14 lie belowboth the I The binder yarns 11 lie below the pick 10, while thebinderyarns 12 lie between the pick and the wire. In the next shed to theright, a pick ltla of filling is inserted and, in this shed, the binderyarns 11 lie above and the binder yarns 12 lie below the pick, while thepile yarns 13 and 14 lie above the pick and the pile yarns 15 lie belowthe pick.

In the third shed, a wire 16a and a pick 10b are inserted and, in thisshed, the pile yarns 14 and 15 lie above the wire and the pick and thepile yarns 13 lie below the wire and the pick. Both binder yarns 11 and12 lie below the wire with the yarns 12 above the pick and the yarns 11below the pick. In the fourth shed, no wire is inserted and the pileyarns 13 and 15 lie above the pick and the yarns 14 lie below the pick10c, while the binder yarns 11 lie above and the binder yarns 12 liebelow the pick.

In the fifth shed, both a Wire 16b and a pick 10d of filling areinserted and the pile yarns 13 and 14 lie above the wire and the pick,while the pile yarns 15 lie below both the wire and the pick. The binderyarns 12 lie below the wire and above the pick and the binder yarns 11lie below the pick.

In the sixth shed, no wire is inserted and the pile yarns 14 and 15 lieabove and the pile yarns 13 lie below the pick 10c. The binder yarns 11lie above and the binder yarns 12 lie below the pick. With thecompletion of the sixth shed, the weaving cycle is completed and, in theseventh shed, the arrangement of the yarns is the same as in the firstshed.

Each of the pile wires 16 used in making the fabric illustrated isprovided with a knife 17 at the 'end of the wire which trails as theWire is withdrawn. Accordingly, after all of the wires of the set havebeen inserted and the first wire is withdrawn for insertion in a newshed, the withdrawal of the wire severs the loops of pile yarns raisedover it to produce pairs of tuft legs and the manner, in which the pileyarns were raised over the wires, causes the tuft legs to have differentlengths. Thus, upon withdrawal in succession of the wires 16, 16a, 16b,lids, and 16d, the pile yarn 13 raised over the wires 16, 16b, and 16cforms long tuft legs bound beneath the pick 10b and short tuft legsbound beneath the pick 102. Similarly, the yarn 14 raised over the wires16a, 16b, and 16d forms short tuft legs bound beneath the pick 10c andlong tuft legs bound beneath the pick 10 while the yarn 15 raised overthe wires 16, 16a, and forms short tuft legs bound beneath the pick 10aand long tuft legs bound beneath the pick 1001. When the raised yarnsare cutthe severed lengths of yarn bound beneath individual picks andrising on opposite sides-of each such pick tend to straighten so thatthe angle between the tuft legs formed by each length of yarn increases.As a re-v sult, the tuft legs, such as those marked 13a, 131 which wereproduced by cutting the yarn 13 by withdrawal of the wire 16c, tend tooverlap and cross each other, as shown in Fig. 2. The effect of suchcrossing of the tuft legs is to increase their covering and concealmentof the back and, since the crossing of the tuft legs is not uniform inextent, the pile has a rough appearance and tex-. ture which is highlydesirable.

Different effects are obtainable at the back of the fabric by the mannerin which the binder yarns are interlaced with the picks of filling.Thus, in the fabric shown in Fig. 3, adjacent rows of lengths of pileyarn bound beneath picks of filling are separated by pairs of binderyarns consisting of a yarn of each set and the binder yarns lying atopposite sides of a row of pile yarns are from the same set as, forexample, from the set 12. Accordingly, these yarns pass. on the sameside of each pick of filling and they lie below the pick 10b binding thepile yarn 13c and above the pick 1% binding the pile yarn 13d. Thebinder yarns 12 passing below the pick 10b tend toprevent the bottom ofthe pile yarn 13c from spreading laterally but the bottom of the'pileyarn 13d bound beneath the pick 10a, over which the binder yarns 12pass, is not held against lateral spreading and is thus wider than thebottom of the yarn 130. For the sat ne reasons, the bottoms of the yarns14a and 15a are not closely confined by binder yarns on opposite sidesthereof and tend to spread laterally. The result is that, at the back ofthe fabric shown in Fig. 3, diagonal rowsof Patented Jan. 10, 1961 thebottoms of pile yarns which have spread laterally are visible, and adiagonal rib efiect is obtained.

In the fabric illustrated in Fig. 4, the rows of pile yarn elements areseparated by pairs of 'binderyarns 11, 12 with each pair of made up of ayarn of each setand the arrangement of the binder yarn of the sets isthe same in all pairs. As a result, the bottom of each pile yarn isengaged at one side by a binder yarn passing beneath the pick whichbinds the pile yarn but, at the other side, the adjacent binder yarnpasses over the pick, so that the bottom of the pile yarn can spreadlaterally in one direction. Since the bottoms of all the pile yarns atthe back of the fabric are confined below their binding picks at oneside only, the portions of the pile yarns visible at the back of thefabric are all of the same size and the diagonal rib effect visible inthe fabric shown in Fig. 3 is absent. I

In the fabric shown in Fig. 5, the pile yarns are arranged in groups ofthree with adjacent groups separated by a pair of binder yarns made upof a yarn of each set. In the actual fabric, the warp yarns lie closetogether and, since the pile yarns are larger than the binder yarns,there are noticeable lengthwise stripes in the back of the fabric formedby the bottoms of the pile yarns in the several groups.

In the fabric illustrated, the binder warp yarns are distributed acrossthe fabric in pairs made up of a yarn of each set and the pairs ofbinder yarns are separated by one or more rows of loops of pile yarnbound beneath picks of filling. If desired, other distributions of thebinder yarns may be employed, as, for example, the rows of pile yarnsmay be separated by two pairs of binder yarns with each pair made up ofa yarn of each set so that, in such a group of four binder yarns, thefirst and third are from the same set and the second and fourth are fromthe other set. In an alternative arrangement, the binder yarns may beinserted in groups of four with the first and second yarns from one setand the third and fourth from the other set. The latter arrangement issimilar to that illustrated but with two binder yarns from the same sethandled as one.

In the production of the new fabric, only one pile wire is inserted foreach two picks of filling. As a result, the loom has an easy motion andit may be operated at higher speed than an ordinary pile wire loom, inwhich the necessity of inserting a wire in each shed limits the speed ofoperation. As each pick of filling binds lengths of pile yarns of asingle set only, there are relatively few pile elements per unit of pilearea. However, in a cut pile fabric, good coverage of the base isobtained because of the use of high and low tuft legs and, even with alow density pile, excellent durability can be obtained by the use ofhard twist pile yarn. The yarns preferred are those having a twist of 60to 90 turns in a length of and a size varying from 41 to 50 yards perounce. An excellent yarn for the purpose is one having a size of 41yards per ounce with a plus or minus tolerance of 10% and 66 turns per10''. The wires employed in producing the fabric may be of any of theusual heights and the fabric may have a pitch within the commercialrange of 180 to 256. The term pitch as used herein means the number ofsplits in the reed in 27" with each split containing a pair of binderchain yarns and as many pile yarns as are used per pair of binder yarns.

While the new fabric has been illustrated in a form having a cut pilewith the pile elements tuft legs, the fabric can also be made with apile, in which the pile elements are loops of pile yarn. In theproduction of such a fabric, the pile wires used are of the non-cuttingtype and, upon their removal, the pile yarns remain as loops. The loopsare all of the same height as each one is bound beneath every third pickand passes over the intervening pair of picks. Thus, if the wires shownin Fig. 1 were non-cutting, withdrawal of the wires would leave loops ofpile yarns 14 bound beneath the pick- 10, passing over the picks 10a and10b, and again boundbeneath the pick 100. Similarly, the pile of thefabric would include loops of yarns 15 bound beneath the pick- 10a,passing over the picks 10b and 10c, and bound be neath the pick 10d, andloops of yarns 13 bound beneath the pick 10b, passing over the picks 10cand 10d, and bound beneath the pick 10c. While the wires are in place inthe loops, the loops are unsymmetrical and each has a long side and ashort side but, upon withdrawal of the wires, the loops assume a naturalshape with sides of equal length. In order to obtain proper coverage ofa the backing of the fabric, in which the pile is made of loops, thepile yarns used are heavier than those employed in the cut pile versionof the fabric, so that the loops of heavy yarn expand and hide thebacking.

In the production of the fabric illustrated, the wire used are ofuniform height from end to end and, as explained, the tuft legs in thecut pile form of the fabric vary in height, while, if non-cutting wiresare used, the pile loops are of uniform height. If desired, the pilewires may be of the wavy type and vary in height from end to end, inwhich event the pile loops will vary correspondingly in height.

I claim:

1. A pile carpet, which comprises a base formed of binder warp yarns intwo sets and picks of filling interlaced therewith, the binder warpyarns being under substantially equal tension and the picks of fillinglying substantially in a plane, the binder yarns being distributedacross the fabric in spaced pairs with each pair consisting of a yarn ofeachset and the yarns of each pair passing on opposite sides of eachpick and crossing between adjacent picks, and a pile formed of elementsof pile yarns in three sets only with the elements of each yarn lying ina row extending lengthwise of the fabric, the pile elements of each yarnbeing bound beneath single picks of filling distributed along the baseand separated by two other picks of filling only, each element extendingabove the base between each binding pick and the adjacent picks onopposite sides thereof to form a pile element, the rows of pile elementsof the several pile yarns being distributed across the fabric in likegroups with each group consisting of a row of elements of a pile yarn ofeach set, each pick of filling binding elements of pile yarns of asingle set only and lying beneath elements of pile yarns of the othersets and successive picks of filling binding elements of pile yarnsdifferent from the pile yarns forming the elements bound by adjacentpicks of filling on opposite sides of said pick.

2. The pile carpet of claim 1, in which all the pile elements are tuftlegs formed by cutting loops and the legs of pile yarns bound beneathalternate picks of filling along the fabric differ in height from thelegs of pile yarns bound beneath intermediate picks of filling.

3. The pile carpet of claim 1, in which the pile elements are loops.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHERREFERENCES G. H. Oelsner: Handbook of Weaves, 1915 edition, TheMacmillan Co., New York, New York, page 16, Figure 38. (Copy inScientific Library.)

